Maze Runner....!!!

Recently a close friend referred his life to the snake and ladder game. The more he climbs up the ladder, he is sure there lies a snake to bring him down! That got me thinking. All of us go through ups and downs in life. Many of us can relate to the snake and ladder game. But I feel my life is like a maze :-)

I keep moving  pace every day. Am I making progress? I don't have an answer. If I am making progress, I would have found the exit by now!!! Or at least the entrance!!! But I am moving.

There is a constant debate between the optimist and the cynic in me. The optimist says there is light at the end of the tunnel (maze). The cynic says if there is light, you would have found by now. Time to think of an alternative strategy.

I have moved so much inside the maze and I don't even know if I have a strategy any more. Leave alone an alternative one!!!

I will nail this puzzle and you may ask, what is my motivation to do so? Well, that is altogether another story!!! Trust me, this is also fun.

Am back!!!

Happy New Year!!!

After five long years, I am writing again.

What did I do in the last five years that didn't allow me to write? Hmmm. Good question! Every time someone says it is a good question, it means they don't know the answer or they are not sure about the answer. And I am no different.

I lived in the illusion that I am busy with my work. Doesn't sound convincing. I know! But that is the truth. None or nothing to blame except for myself.

But AM BACK. Determined to do all those things that I feel happy about. Time to be myself.

Does God Exist?

It is a hard question! Well, from my experience, I can vouch, “God does exist!”

Let me present the evidence through a small story.

Once, I was trapped in Lion’s cage (Don’t ask me how I ended up there! You will never know how you get into troubles!). The Lion, the King of the cage (sorry forest), was lying and was eyeing me with greedy eyes. He didn’t pounce on me immediately and took his time measuring me. Maybe loved to watch the fear in my eyes. I don’t know why he took his time. But it gave me a chance to pray to God.

I prayed, “God, please save me from this lion. Please take me out of the lion’s cage.” I kept chanting the same thing again and again……….Lion stood up slowly. My heart was pounding. The more and more he took his time, the more and more my heart started beating fast. Lion was warming up I guess, as he took a slow paced walk around the cage. I continued my prayers. There was faith in my heart that God will save me somehow.

My eyes followed the lion. Suddenly, I saw there was a den behind the cage. And, I could also see a bright ray of light. There was a sudden hope in my heart. Lion was facing away from me. I took a chance and rushed towards the den in a lightening flash (I was so quick I could have earned a gold medal for our Country in CWG). There I could see small space between the railing and wall. A small space between life and death. I squeezed myself through the small space available, all the while thinking about the other side. Icrossed and presented myself right to the jaws of death. Yes, the other side was a TIGER’s cage. Unlike lion, tiger pounced on me immediately………

Post-death, I realized God does exist and also answers our prayers. I asked Him to save me from Lion, he saved meeeeeeee……………..

Moral of the story: Please be smart when you pray to God…He seems to like only smart prayers.

Eureka! I found "The Missing Rose"

Just finished reading "The Missing Rose." An impressive debut novel by Serdar Özkan. I have been walking past this book at book stores for the past few months. On the cover, it was written, "If you like The Alchemist, you would like The Missing Rose." These words intrigued me, since I am a huge fan of The Alchemist. So, finally I yielded and bought the book.

It is a magnificient book. Books expose you to the outside world and cultures. Only very few rare books make you look inside you. Makes you to get into the depths of your being. The Missing Rose is one such rare book. Exposes the hidden layers deep inside you.

To be honest, I started off the book without any expectation. I told myself not to get very critical as it Ozkan's first novel. But he mesmerized me with his philosophies and writing. What makes it more interesting is, the story set in contemporary times. We are like Maria, in one way or the other, in constant need of approval from others. And in the process we lose ourselves, atleast partly. I agree we need courage to live our dreams. I couldn’t stop admiring the way the story has been told. Totally enchanting!

What made it more interesting was I finished the book watching "October rains!" Undoubtedly, a book to cherish!

For those who want to read more about Serdar Ozkan, here is the link to his official website.

http://www.serdarozkan.com/index.html

Mirza Ghalib

After a longtime, I have read a book non-stop. It’s “Mirza Ghalib – a biographical scenario” by Gukzar. It is actually a screenplay written by Gulzar for a serial on Ghalib. Ghalib was an 18th century Urdu poet, who is still admired for his profound thoughts. He questioned the fundamentals of faith and dogma of religion. I was enchanted with not only about his beautiful verses, but also the poet himself.

I admire and respect him for two major reasons. One, for his secular thoughts. His couplets transcends all religion and he speaks of an United India as early as 18th century. O make people understand their religious fanaticism, he questions the religious inclination of animals. As always it goes in vain. I also like his honesty, he never hid the fact that he is fond of alcohol.

Another reason for which I admire him is his love and respect he had for his wife. They lost seven children and didn’t have any issues. But even then, Ghalib never blamed his wife or thought about a second marriage. This is also pointed out by Gulzar in the preface. Ghalib saab, I salute you for that.

The interesting facts about his life were that it took sometime to get recognized among his peers, he received fame and recognition later in his life (just like any other geniuses), he was an alcoholic and also served a jail sentence. At the end, I cannot stop myself from wondering about the connection between geniuses, alcohol and jail?

My favorites:

“And a glow appears on my face when I see her.
She gets the impression that I’m no longer ailing.”

“Kill me with the tremor of your lips
I do not ask for a kiss, speak at least.”

“Accustomed to sorrow if a man becomes, then sorrow too loses its sting
Difficulties fell so many upon me that it became easy to grapple with”

“I had heard of the expulsion of Adam from Paradise
But greater seemed the dishonor at my exile from your lane.”

“A hundred sights present themselves, you need only lift your eyelids
But where’s the strength to lift the gratitude of sight.”

“Let us go and reside at a place where there isn o one, no one to share your thoughts, or language.”

Lovely lines.........

The Persian poet sings :

Four eyes met. There were changes in two souls.

And now I cannot remember whether he is a man and I a woman,

Or he a woman and I a man. All I know is,

There were two, love came, and there is one.

- Rabindranath Tagore

My favorite books..........

For the starters,

Let me list few of my favorite books……..(in alphabetical order)

• A Walk To Remember - Nicholas Sparks

• Autobiography Of A Yogi - Paramahamsa Yogananda

• Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

• Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho

• Fountain Head - Ayn Rand

• God Father - Mario Puzo

• If Tomorrow Comes - Sidney Sheldon

• Man, Woman And Child - Erich Segal

• Poems Of Kabir -Translated By Rabindranath Tagore

• Rage Of Angels - Sidney Sheldon

• Siddhartha - Herman Hesse

• Sphere - Michael Crichton

• The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

• The Kite Runner - Khaled Hossieni

• The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin Sharma

• The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran

• The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

• Twenty Three Tales – Leo Tolstoy

And, I love reading comics as well. My all time favorites are Archies and Tintin.